The invention concerns conferencing systems in which several people at different locations can communicate with each other.
Systems are presently available wherein a person can both see and speak with another at a distance. The well-known AT and T(copyright) Picturephone(copyright) is an example: it combines the telephone with television.
There also exist systems which allows computers to provide a feature known as xe2x80x9cscreen sharing.xe2x80x9d With screen sharing, one person, at a remote location, can control a second person""s computer. For example, the remote person can manipulate a pointing device which moves a cursor on the screen of the second person""s computer. To an extent, the two people share a common screen.
The invention carries these concepts further. The invention allows multiple persons, at different locations, to hold a conference, by providing many of the conveniences which the participants would have if present together in the same physical room.
It is an object of the invention to provide a virtual conferencing system.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a virtual conferencing system which allows multiple persons to view, and also manipulate, a common video display, which is simultaneously displayed at their different locations.
An example will illustrate one form of the invention. Two (or more) parties each operate their own local computers. The computers have associated video cameras, speaker-type telephones, and pointing devices (such as xe2x80x9cmousesxe2x80x9d). When a conference is established, the local computers become connected to a host computer, via commercially available Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs).
The parties send the information which they want displayed, such as drawings, to the host computer. The host computer generates a common video screen, which it distributes to the parties: they see the drawings at their own local computers. Each party can move a pointer on the display, and point to features on the drawings. The telephones and video cameras allow the parties to see and speak with each other.
The host controls many of the events occurring during the conference, as well as those occurring both during initiation of the conference and after termination of the proceedings.
For example, the host provides a system which allows a person to invite participants to the conference in a convenient manner, including some automated invitation features which will be described later.
As another example, the host provides some unique stenographic and recording features.
As yet another example, the host can maintain the virtual conference room in existence after the conference terminates, so that the records of the proceedings remain available for persons who wish to examine them.